Audio Arts: Volume 13 No 1

00:00:01 An interview with Ellsworth Kelly during the exhibition documenta IX in Kassel, October 1992. Three of the four works by Ellsworth Kelly shown in documenta IX during the summer of 1992 were subsequently seen in October at the Anthony d'Offay Gallery in London. In this interview, recorded in that exhibition, the artist discusses the critical relationship between the placing of his works and the space of the gallery, his concerns for 'form' and 'ground' and his early reasons for moving away from the use of regular geometric shapes for his panel paintings. Other themes include his reaction to being a student of Max Beckman in Bostonand the European tradition he discovered in Paris in the mid 1940s exemplified by Picasso, Leger and Braque. He goes on to elaborate on his earlier statement, '¿ the shape finds its own space and always demands its freedom and separateness'.

00:00:01 An interview with Christine Borland on the occasion of the exhibition of the work Small objects that save lives. Small Objects that Save Lives is the title of a work by Christine Borland shown at the Chisenhale Gallery, London in March 1993, which comprised eleven tables, clinically laid out with objects submitted by individuals who were invited to respond to the title of the exhibition. Craig Richardson presented his work Unfolding, consisting of combinations of words painted in black onto a powerful yellow background covering the extensive wall facing the entrance to the gallery. Here, the artists, in conversation with Jonathan Watkins, the Exhibition Organiser, discuss their joint exhibition, the strands of communication they share and the various agendas they address and interpret in their work. 00:14:45 An interview with Eugenio Dittborn during the exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London in April 1993. 'The themes of travel, distance and the journey are addressed not just in the physical distribution of the work but in the imagery of the paintings themselves'. In this interview, recorded during Dittborn's exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art, London, the Chilean artist discusses the underlying concerns of 'The Airmail Paintings' and his use of imagery, often depicting violent, ritualistic, or unexpected death, appropriated from differing historic periods. The artist elaborates on his description of the resultant juxtapositions as a 'hybridisation of a temporal kind'. 00:28:33 An interview with Thomas Trebstein. In this soundwork by Thomas Trebstein from Hallein the former East Germany, sound montage is used to explore the themes of love, fear, sorrow and memory. Rhythmic passages are juxtaposed with discord, harmony, the voice and prerecorded industrial sounds. The resultant combinations and layers also suggest uncertainty and chance. 00:30:42 Andrew Sabin discusses The Sea of Sun during its installation at Battersea Art Center in South London, December 1992. Andrew Sabin discusses his large-scale installation The Sea of Sun during its installation at BAC in South London. He starts by describing its physical structure which includes twenty six compartments formed by curtains of anodised aluminium chains suspended from a ceiling grid. The interview was conducted with the artist as he moved through the compartments where each chain curtain acts as a semi-transparent screen containing a computer generated colour pattern, text or image. The artist describes the work as a 'paradoxical maze' where there is an ;infinite potential for routes through. He then expands his statement: 'One objective of the work is to draw a relationship between thought and the virtual reality of computer generated space'.